Maria Jose Sanchez expels Irina Falconi in 1st round – Hansol Korea Open 2011
Sixth seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez got the better of American Irina Falconi as the two met for their first round match at the 2011 Hansol Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea. After one hour and seventeen minutes of the match,
the sixth seeded Espanola (Sanchez) won in straight sets of a double 6-3 victory (6-3, 6-3).
The court was set and as the two players arrived the crowd cheered for both the players. Opening the initial set was Sanchez but it was an awful start for her as she was unable to hold her serve in the first game.
During the second game Falconi held her serve and again broke Sanchez by smashing an amusing back hand winner down the line, which the crowd also liked and took a lead of 3-0 in the third game.
During the fourth game Sanchez jumped and kicked back to make her way forward as she broke back Falconi and then held her serve in the fifth game. She again broke Falconi to round off the score at 3-3.
As Falconi served poorly, she paid the price by gifting another game to Sanchez in the eighth game. After bagging the previous game, the Espanola served for the opening set in the ninth game and as she held her serve, she sealed
the first set victory.
Opening the second set was Falconi and she successfully put herself on the score board in the first game, however, Sanchez was not to be left behind and after winning on her serve she too placed herself on the scoreboard. An exchange
of break later, the score was still tied between the two players.
The two players then went at it blow for a blow and rallied long in the following two games to square off the score at 3-3. At this point the match could’ve tilted either way but it was a lucky break for Sanchez, as she not only
held her serve in the seventh game but forced an error from her opponent to take the lead at 5-3. As she held serve for the last game, Sanchez achieved a flawless victory of 6-3.
Amidst the second set Sanchez smashed two aces and had a geometric precision, while her adversary committed three double faults. Capitalizing on 33 percent of break points won Sanchez was able to save a place in the second round
of the event.
Tags: